You can often create interesting beautiful design elements for your
cakes, cupcakes. and cookies with tools not specifically for the purpose
of cake design. Many craft items or decorating tools can be used
because they are the best way to get the job done. For example, stencils
for wall painting or crafts have gorgeous patterns and are perfect for
cake designs as long as they are made of non-toxic materials.
Some other non-culinary tools that can be used are:
- A clay gun or craft gun that uses a pump action to squeeze out different shapes such as grass, ribbons or thin snakes of fondant or gum paste. You can use these shapes to create gorgeous designs such as Millefiori inspired patterns.
- A paper punch tool can create lovely small embossed designs that are detailed and delicate.
- A new trend in cake design is creating "cake jewelry" out of beads and fake gems which adorn the cake on wire swirls and settings. This type of design element should be used with care because the beads are not edible and must be removed.
- Pottery moulds are perfect for creating figures, animals and other design elements out of gum paste. Use them like you would with clay taking care to make sure they are made of non-toxic materials.
- Styrofoam to help many cake design elements dry. Wired gum paste flowers and leaves can be placed in Styrofoam as well as skewered decorated cake pops to dry the icing or piping elements. This separates them but if you don't pay attention you can over balance your Styrofoam block with more pops on one end than the other! Very messy!
- Metal colander for cake pops to dry. Simply turn your colander upside down and put the sticks into the holes. The weight of the cake pop holds them in place at whatever depth you want, but you should stagger the pops for more coverage and a sheet of parchment underneath the colander made clean up very easy.
- A home printer for printing perfect edible images of family, landscapes, airplanes and even super heroes. You just need edible paper or sugar paper which can be found at most craft stores and cartridges of edible ink (also found at most craft stores or online). Simply make your cake in whatever shape you need and ice it or cover it with fondant. Then clean your printer of regular ink by running some paper through after changing the cartridges. This will purge whatever ink might be left in the printer. Then pick the picture you want to put on your cake and print it off. Attach it to your cake with a little butter cream or simply press it on top.
By Michelle Anderson
Cake Decorating Expert, about.com
